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Thalan strategies
Customized build #1 *Planet Quality +20 *Morale +15 *Loyalty +40 *Logistics +6 *Miniaturization +10 Choose The Populists *Morale +20 *Diplomacy +20 General idea The Thalans start with the biggest homeworld of all major races. Choosing Planet Quality +20 makes your starting homeworld even better increasing it from Class 15 to Class 18 , when fully upgraded your homeworld will be Class 25! Alignment selected should be neutral to avoid the need to spend time terraforming. With the Planet quality bonuses, you can achieve high population growths and maximums so the morale bonuses will come in handy. On your first turn, you can lower taxes a bit to get 100% approval. Thalan in Twilight of the Arnor Race abilities: *Population Growth -30 *Social Production +33 *Military Production +33 *Diplomacy -30 *Logistics +6 Super Hive: bonuses to range and factory construction Unlike most other races, the Thalan only have 8 customization points. Advantages: *Strong starting game *Nearly indestructible starbases *High capacity factories and research labs *Can build small ships from the beginning Disadvantages: *No farming technology at all *Many expensive technologies *Factories, labs and econ buildings unavailable at beginning of game *Factories and research labs initially have very high maintenance cost *Sensors cannot be researched at the beginning of the game Overall Strategy The most significant aspect of the Thalan is their very unusual tech tree. There are no farming techs at all. Also, factories, labs and econ buildings cannot be built initially. To make up for it, the Thalan start with a class 15 homeworld and some very powerful galactic achievements. Consequently the Thalan are extremely good at the start of the game during the planet grabbing phase of the game. On the other hand new colonies are limited to a maximum of 8 population due to lack of farms. Combined with a hefty population growth penalty, the Thalan population can easily stagnate in the midgame, leading to economic stagnation. In addition to population stagnation, another obstacle is the very high maintenance cost of factories (Manufacturing Matrix) and labs (Technological Matrix). Therefore an effective economic strategy to generate a lot of income is vital and the Thalan should be customized toward that end. In practice the Thalan start with a -15 population growth penalty as opposed to -30 because they start with techs that give population growth bonuses. Also, due to lack of sensor techs at the beginning of the game, it may be worthwhile to invest some customization points into sensors to make planet grabbing easier. Economic Strategy The Thalan should be customized in order to specialize in either 1 of 3 methods of generating a lot of income: trade, economy, or influence. While all 3 are viable, trade is the least effective due to sensitivity to war. Tourism through influence seems the most effective overall, because the Thalan have 2 unique techs that give +20 influence each, plus the Utopian Society starbase module (+50% culture!) which can be used to flip colonies as well. Although the Thalan economic techs are average, economics is advantageous in that it is independent of other civs, unlike trade and tourism. Therefore specialization in either influence or economics is suggested. At the beginning of the game, production should be driven exclusively by the Hyperion Matrix. Afterwards, the homeworld should be specialized in generating income. Factories and labs should not be built on the homeworld, except where there are tile bonuses. The Hyperion Matrix should be built in a tile with a bonus whenever possible. Due to the large population of the homeworld, putting some customization points into morale can be worthwhile as well. To control maintenance cost, colonies should have plenty of embassies of markets. Factories and labs should be built sparingly, as much as income allows. Since Thalan factories and labs start with high capacity, not many are needed anyway. The Thalan can build the Technological Capital but not the Manufacturing Capital. Since Thalan industry is so strong, this is not an issue. It is possible to trade for farming tech as well as for the Manufacturing Capital. However, because of the -30 diplomacy penalty such a trade will be highly uneven. Still, trading for farm tech is well worth it, even if not essential. Technologies The Thalan have many techs that significantly boost industry, morale and influence without the need for buildings. The tech tree contains many bottlenecks, where an expensive tech leads to cheaper subsequent techs. Higher levels of factories and labs do not increase their capacity, but lower their maintenance cost instead. Factories have a 15/10/5 bc maintenance progression. Labs have a 15/10/8 bc progression. Level 3 labs are rarely worth it since they only lower maintenance cost down to 8bc, unlike level 3 factories that go down to 5bc. Thalan defense research skips the defense theory and level 1 technologies. Level 2 defense technologies are immediately available. Weapons research only skips the weapon theory technologies, making level 1 weapon technologies immediately available. Notable techs Hyperion Starbases - Unlocks powerful starbase modules such as Utopian Society (+50% culture!), Subspace Shields (all categories +3 ship def assist), Resource Collector (+12 military, social, research) and Singularity Armor (all categories +24 starbase def!). Xeno Ethics - Opens a number of techs according to alignement. *Good allows Hyperion Defense Module (+25% def in home territory), Church of Valor, Gaia Vortex, more influence. *Neutral: allows +10 speed, additional 25% purchase reduction, +20 weapons, +25% creativity. *Evil: allows +10% hit points, Brain Washing Center, +10 weapons, +20% soldiering. Winning The Ascension, Influence and Technological victories work well for the Thalan. Conquest is more difficult due to the population growth penalty and lack of soldiering bonuses. The diplomatic victory is also difficult due to the diplomacy penalty.